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How Nora Abousteit knitted herself a new startup, Kollabora

This article was taken from the December 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.

Nora Abousteit knits when she walks, when she's on the train and in her spare moments at work. She's also a woodworker, a shoemaker, a seamstress and a jewellery designer. "Making things is in my DNA," she says. "It gives me an amazing sense of achievement and I want to share that." So the 36-year-old founded Kollabora, a social platform for makers. Launched to the public last September, the New York-based startup is a one-stop shop for DIY projects in knitting, sewing and jewellery-making. Kollabora hosts a database of projects which come with shopping lists -- the supplies for which can be ordered through the site.

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Launched with $580,000 (£357,000) of angel funding, the site is curated by expert hobbyists and professionals, and also ­features user-generated content. "Crafting [on Kollabora] is like an open-source movement," says Abousteit. "People share resources and knowledge for free."

Before Kollabora, the half-German, half-Egyptian entrepreneur helped launch Hubert Burda Media's DLD conferences in Germany and cofounded an 800,000 member sewing community, BurdaStyle. With Kollabora, she wanted to take BurdaStyle's model and expand it. "The UK is one of the fastest-growing craft markets but it's not being tapped into, particularly online," she says. "My vision is that Kollabora will be a place where anyone can learn to make anything."